The Golden Girl
by ekatesc
Summary: After fighting with Ron and Harry, Hermione, influenced by Draco, makes a decision that will rock the wizarding world.
1. Chapter 1

Hermione felt worry overwhelm her as she spotted Harry. He refused to prepare for the next Triwizard task, and was instead just flying aimlessly around the Quidditch Pitch.

"Harry!" she called out. He glanced down at her before floating gently toward the ground. He seemed to be in a bad mood.

"What? I need to practice Quidditch."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "There's not even games this year. Do I need to remind you that the next task is in three weeks?"

"I realize that! But I know what I'm doing." Why did he continue to insist he was doing ok on his own? Hermione took a few steps closer to him on the damp grass.

"Harry, don't you want to make your parents proud?" She immediately knew she'd struck a nerve. His face contorted with anger.

"You have no right to talk about my parents! I know what I'm doing!" He began to raise his voice.

"Harry, I'm just-"

Hermione frowned as Harry interrupted her. "God, Hermione! Can't you just leave me alone?"

"I'm trying to help!" she insisted. "You have to be prepared for the second task, and so far, all you've done is fight with Ron and snap at people!" Ever since the Triwizard Tournament began a few months ago, she was Harry's only friend. But he treated her like she was disposable, a backup. And she was sick of it.

"I don't need help from a know-it-all like you. You're only hanging out with me because you don't have other friends, and I'm tired of it! Stop being a whiny little bitch and actually start talking to people for once, just not me. I don't want to talk to you right now." Harry picked up his broom and stomped off the pitch. Hermione took a deep breath, blinking back the tears that were threatening to fall. She had no one left. Her only friends were Harry and Ron, and Ron wasn't speaking to her. Although… that gave her an idea. She began to search the castle to apologize to Ron. Maybe he was right. She stumbled upon him in a corridor.

"Ron!" she called out. He turned toward her with a look of complete rage on his face.

"Did Harry finally decide you're not good enough for him? So you run to me as backup? I don't need you in my life. I'm doing fine without you. I have friends, and I don't need to waste my time on bookworm mudbloods!" he shouted at her. She felt herself start to tear up, so she ran as fast as possible away. Away from her friends, who apparently didn't want her. Away from her blood status, away from the slurs. Eventually, she curled up in a corner and let the tears fall. It was true that Harry and Ron were her only friends, and now Ron had turned against them because he was a jealous bastard. Apparently, she wasn't good enough for Harry to be friends with. She wasn't going to go running back to him. He would have to apologize to her. And Ron knew how much she hated being called a mudblood, but he did it anyway. He was such a hypocrite. She was snapped out of her thinking by the sound of footsteps, and hastily wiped her eyes. She glanced up to see Malfoy above her with a concerned expression on his face. Great, more teasing. Just what she needed.

"Granger? Is that you?" he asked, his eyes studying her intently. Hermione stayed silent. "Granger?" he repeated, "Are you ok?" She didn't know exactly what happened, but something inside of her just snapped.

"No, I'm not fucking ok, and your teasing isn't going to make it any better. You've never once been concerned about my wellbeing any time in the last four years, and you definitely don't now. So you can just leave me alone!" Hermione shouted. Malfoy, struggling to recover from the shocked look on his face, sat down next to her.

"You can talk to me," he said, sounding sincere. Hermione rolled her eyes,

"Whatever game you're playing, leave me out of it. I don't know if you're trying to get me to spy on Harry or something, but that's not exactly going to happen, considering he probably won't even talk to me right now!" Malfoy looked thoughtful.

"What happened?" he asked, confusing Hermione. She didn't know why, but she told Malfoy everything.

"Ever since the beginning of this fucking tournament, Harry and Ron have been in a fight. Ron's being a jealous prat, and Harry's not trying to fix anything. Eventually, I had to pick a side, and I picked Harry's. Recently, Harry has been super rude, and I was trying to help him with the second task, but he's been yelling at me a lot. Tonight, we fought, and he called me names and told me he didn't want to talk to me anymore. I went to apologize to Ron, but he called me a- a mudblood." Hermione felt the tears start again, and she had no clue why she was telling Malfoy all of this. "You'll probably tease me for what I'm about to say, but they're my only friends. I have no one to talk to or be with if I'm not talking to them. I've tried to be friends with the other Gryffindors, but they can be just as prejudiced against muggleborns as any of the Slytherins." Hermione took a breath, and realized she'd been ranting for a while. She gave Malfoy an apologetic look.

"Wow, that sucks. I'm sorry." Malfoy awkwardly patted her on the back. Hermione stared at him.

"Be honest. Why are you talking to me? We both know at any other time, you wouldn't want to be near me." Hermione knew something was up, and the look on Malfoy's face just confirmed it.

"I'll tell you, if you promise to hear me out and not run away." He smiled at her. Hermione considered it, and realized she didn't have anything left to lose.

"Sure, whatever."

"The Dark Lord. He's decided it might be helpful to have someone on the inside of Gryffindor. And who better than Gryffindor's resident muggleborn? Gryffindor's golden girl, best friend of the Boy-Who-Lived, rule follower. Would anyone suspect you?" Malfoy paused to take a breath, obviously deciding on how to convince her. Hermione took a deep breath, thinking about the implications of this. She had studied the last war for ages, and all evidence said that the dark was winning, until baby Harry turned the tables. She would instantly be a target if she stuck with the light. 70% of the light's followers died or were severely injured, while only 20% of the dark suffered the same fate. What had the light ever offered her? Empty promises and heartbreak. She was done with it. And here was a chance to change things.

"Alright." Hermione glanced at Malfoy. He looked at her, confused.

"Alright, what?"

"I'll do it. I'm tired of being the weak one. I'm tired of being teased, taunted, ridiculed. Being in the Dark Lord's ranks would stop that." Hermione grinned. It was a rash decision, but it felt right. The bloody Gryffindors were no better than the so called "dark" side. Malfoy furrowed his eyebrows.

"How do I know you're not going to double cross me? You seem a bit eager to betray your friends." Hermione considered it.

"I, Hermione Jane Granger, swear on my life and magic that I will not betray Draco Malfoy or the Dark Lord unless they lie to me or use me in a way I don't agree with. So mote be it." She pulled out her wand and a light surrounded her. "Is that good enough for you?"

Malfoy nodded. "Do you want to come to the Slytherin common room? The rest of us know about the plan."

Hermione held up her hand. "How do I know this isn't some elaborate plan to hurt me?" She may be trusting, but she wasn't naive.

"I, Draco Malfoy, swear on my life and magic that what I said today was the truth. So mote be it."

Hermione nodded in acceptance, and they made their way together to the Slytherin Common Room.

**A/N: This is a short chapter, sorry about that! I hope you enjoy. Favorite and review please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you so much for the positive response I got on the first chapter of TGG, now on with the story!**

Hermione sucked in a breath as Malfoy pushed open the door to the Slytherin Common room. Despite its location, it was a lavish room. Ron and Harry had described it in great detail in second year, but their descriptions didn't do it justice. Fluffy green armchairs and couches laid around the room, and it was awash in a green light from the windows looking into the lake. A beautiful carpet covered the stone floor, and paintings lined the walls. She glanced around and felt people staring at her. The enormity of the decision she made was just beginning to sink in.

Malfoy gestured at her to sit down on a nice couch in a secluded corner of the room. Just as she took a seat, his friends began to arrive. Parkinson was the first and sat directly across from Hermione. Then Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle all took the couch to her right. Bulstrode and Greengrass sat next to Hermione, while Davis and Zabini just placed a cushioning charm on the floor and sat down. Hermione's heart began to race. These people had done nothing but torment her for years, and now she was trying to be civil with them. It would be difficult. Malfoy cleared his throat, and the chitchat died down.

"As I'm sure you're aware by Granger's presence, she's agreed to the plan. We need to figure out where to go from here, and how to best please the Dark Lord." Malfoy fidgeted nervously, and Hermione realized he didn't really know what he was doing.

Greengrass nodded. "What's your position with Potter and Weasley right now?" she inquired.

Hermione sighed, and didn't want to have to retell the day's events, but she knew she had to gain their trust. "Ron's been on the outs with Harry all year, and I got dragged into it. Eventually, I chose Harry's side. Today, he-" she took a deep breath. "He just snapped at me, said I was a bitch who didn't have other friends, which, I guess, was partly true," she reluctantly admitted. She cast her eyes downward, not wanting to see their reactions. "I decided Ron must've been right, so I found him and apologized. He said I was just using him as backup, and he didn't want to be friends with a mudblood." Hermione was surprised that she didn't have to stop herself from crying. She stopped caring what Ron thought a long time ago. She finally glanced up. No one in the circle looked surprised.

"That's what I've come to expect from the bloody light side. They claim to be better than us, but they can be just as prejudiced, if not more," Parkinson ranted, sending Hermione an apologetic look. Everyone seemed to agree with that. She couldn't refute Parkinson's claims, though.

"Obviously, Granger needs to make up with both Potter and Weasley. Offer to do their homework the whole year, or something," Zabini suggested. Hermione and he had never really spoken much, but he seemed nice enough. Hermione was about to say that would be too much work, but Malfoy butted in with reassurance.

"We have assignments, already done, from years ago. Slytherins have an area where we put our finished work, so future students can use it. You can just copy from there."

Hermione sighed. No wonder Crabbe and Goyle managed to do well in school. They could barely read a book, but having finished assignments for everything would certainly help. "Alright, so I'll offer to do their homework. I don't know if that'll be enough."

Nott shook his head. "It'll be enough. If it's not, we'll have another meeting and discuss a different path." Everyone in the circle nodded. "Also, just a warning, Granger. In order to get close with them again, you may need to become romantically involved with one of them."

Hermione wrinkled her nose. The thought of dating Ron or Harry was disgusting. Ron ate like a pig, and acted like one, too. And Harry could be so egotistical at times, it drove her insane. "We can save that as a last resort," she finally decided. An extremely last resort, she added silently. Malfoy turned to her and placed a circular disk in her hand. It was silver, with runes etched on the sides.

"Use this to contact me. Press the middle button once if we just need to meet, and three times if it's urgent. This can be dangerous. Don't let anyone know that anything is going on."

Hermione grimaced. She knew this would be difficult. Her life was about to be flipped upside down. She placed the silver disk in her robe pocket. "Thank you for this opportunity, Malfoy. I knew I would probably die in the next war. Now I have a chance to survive. I should probably go now, it's nearing curfew." She began to stand and walk away.

Malfoy nodded. "One last thing," he called out. Hermione paused. "You can call me Draco," He said, smiling at her.

"Well, then you may call me Hermione." She walked toward the exit, ignoring the stares of the rest of the Slytherin house. Before she could leave, Parkinson ran over to her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Granger?" Parkinson said hesitantly. Hermione braced herself for a cutting remark or something mean.

"Yes?"

Parkinson took a second before speaking again. "I want to apologize. We haven't been the nicest to you for the past few years."

That was an understatement, Hermione thought. Although, if she thought about it, most of the times they had been mean were when she was with Harry. Parkinson continued, regret written all over her face.

"I don't have a good reason. It's just- in First Year, Harry turned down Draco's offer of friendship. Draco hadn't been trying to be mean to Weasley, it's just what he had been taught. Draco had been dreaming of being friends with the Boy-Who-Lived for ages, and that night shattered those dreams into pieces."

Hermione chewed on her lip as she tried to imagine that night from Draco's perspective. She could see how that might have been hurtful.

"After that, we decided that Harry turned down our offers of friendship, so we didn't want anything to do with him or anyone he was with. You don't seem like a bad person, quite the opposite, in fact. So I just wanted to say sorry, on behalf of all of us."

Hermione gave Parkinson a small smile. "Thank you. I can't say I've forgiven you yet, but I'm certainly going to soon."

Hermione pushed open the exit and walked out. As she entered the dimly lit dungeon corridor, she tried to calm her heart. That meeting had gone well. As well as could be expected. They seemed genuine. It could be some elaborate prank to hurt her, but it felt real. She got lost in thought as she followed the route to Gryffindor tower.

-oOoOo-

Hermione quickly gave the password after the Fat Lady reminded her. She took a deep breath as she walked inside. She quickly looked around and took note of where everyone was. Ron was playing chess with Seamus, and Harry was doing homework in the corner. She approached Harry first, biting down the indignity of having to apologize to him, rather than the other way around.

"Harry?" Hermione prompted.

He looked up in surprise, before scowling when he saw it was her. "What do you want? Here to nag me about the task?"

Hermione shook her head, rolling her eyes internally, but looking sad on the outside. "I want to apologize. It wasn't my place to tell you to do anything. You were right. I don't have any other friends, and I was being annoying. I'm going to try to meet some more people, but I miss you. You're my best friend."

Harry didn't appear to be buying it. "Hermione, I don't WANT to be friends with you. I gain nothing from our friendship."

Hermione sighed as she realized she was really going to have to bribe him to be friends with her again. She pretended to be deep in thought, biting her lip. If she pulled this off, she should get an Oscar or something. "What if… I did your homework for the next week?"

Harry appeared to know some negotiating of his own. "Is a week of homework really worth an entire friendship?"

She tried again. "The next month?" Hermione was revolted that Harry would even consider using their friendship as a bargaining tool. Harry again shook his head.

"Still too little. I'm disappointed you think our friendship is worth so little."

Hermione wasn't stupid. If she kept pushing the amount of time up, he would know that she would keep going up, and wouldn't agree until she was doing his homework for the rest of his time at Hogwarts. She didn't see any other way, though. "I'll do a year, and that's my final offer."

Harry scoffed, intending to push this as high as it would go. "Final offer? It's a win-win for me. We stop being friends like I want, or you do my homework for some time. I don't think you really mean final offer."

Hermione wanted to punch him in frustration but kept her cool. She needed to do this to be accepted by the Slytherins, by the dark. Harry spoke up again.

"I have a fair deal. For as long as we're friends, you do my homework. So, if you want us to be friends for the next three years, I'll need three years of you doing my homework and giving me your notes." Harry actually seemed to think that was fair. It made no sense.

Hermione wanted to laugh in disbelief. But she didn't see much of a choice. "Fine."

Harry pushed over his work. "Better get started now." He smirked at her. How had Hermione been actual friends with him? He was just as stuck up as anyone she knew, and just as manipulative. Hermione chewed on the inside of her lip.

"Why don't you try to make up with Ron? You guys were so close before this," Hermione suggested. It would be much easier for her if Ron and Harry went back to being friends. Harry shook his head.

"He doesn't believe that I didn't put my name in the goblet. I'm not friends with people who don't trust me." Harry stared in Ron's direction, and Hermione followed his gaze. Ron and Seamus were laughing as Ron's chess piece punched Seamus's.

"Just tell him you hope he'll believe you one day, and if you could change things, you would've had him in the tournament with you." Hermione saw Harry considering it. He picked at a few loose strings on the tablecloth.

"I'll think about it. Now get started on the homework. We don't have all night."

Hermione rolled her eyes before doing it. She decided to make a few purposeful mistakes. After all, she had agreed to do his homework, not to do it right.

**A/N: Thank you for reading! Please take a few seconds to review and favorite!**


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